Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Thriprayar Sree Ramaswamy Temple in Thrissur district during his two-day visit to the state from January 16. The Prime Minister’s decision to include this Ram temple in his itinerary assumes significance in the wake of the pran pratishtha (consecration) ceremony at the grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22.
Located in Thriprayar locality in Kerala’s Nattika village, about 22 km away from Guruvayoor and 60 km from Kochi airport, the Sree Ramaswamy Temple, under the control of the Cochin Devaswom Board, a socio-religious trust appointed by the government of Kerala, is one of the prominent temples in the state with Lord Ram as the main deity.
According to reports, PM Modi is visiting the temple on an invitation by the chief priest, Tharananellur Padinjare Mana Padmanabhan Namboothiripad, in a letter dated January 1. The letter mentioned that the idol of Lord Ram at the temple is believed to be the one worshipped by Lord Krishna at Dwarka in Gujarat and the idols of Lord Ram, Bharat, Lakshman, and Shatrughna were taken from the sea and installed at the same time.
Narendra Modi, who will reach Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple on Wednesday to attend the marriage ceremony of Bhagya Suresh, daughter of actor-politician Suresh Gopi, will do darshan at the Sree Ramaswamy Temple around 10.50 am. According to the information available, he will spend one hour at the temple. This is the first time that a Prime Minister is visiting the Thriprayar Temple.
It houses a six-foot-tall idol of the Lord in a standing posture holding Shankha, Sudarshan Chakra, Stick, and Garland, in a ferocious form, facing east. Addressed as Thriprayar Thevar or Thriprayarappa, the deity in the royal form is the presiding deity of the noted festival Arattupuzha Pooram, considered “the summit of all the deities in the universe”. Meenoottu, or feeding the fish, is one of the main offerings at the temple situated on the banks of a river.
This is the first temple to be visited as part of the Nalambalam Pilgrimage, a ritual completing the visit to four temples dedicated to Lord Ram and his brothers before noon, especially in the month of Karkidakam, considered ‘Ramayana month’ in the state. This pilgrimage was mentioned recently by the Prime Minister in his Mann Ki Baat radio programme.
The Koodalmanikyam Temple, Irinjalakuda, the next on the list of pilgrimage, is one of the few temples in the country dedicated to the worship of Bharat, brother of Ram. Moozhikkulam Sree Lakshmana Perumal Temple, dedicated to Lakshman is the next, and Payammal Sree Shathrugnha Swamy Temple is the last temple to visit in this Nalambalam pilgrimage.
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